What are the top five business challenges for real estate broker leaders this year? In a recent Delta Real Estate Leadership Survey of more than 100 individual brokers, who are leading firms collectively responsible for more than 60 percent of all real estate transactions last year, the leaders themselves answered this question.

"Recruiting new agents" was the No. 1 business challenge (63 percent), followed by "reduced profit margins" (48 percent) and "recruiting top producers" (44%). Tied at the No. 5 spot were "agent adoption of your technology" and "finding ways to reduce expenses," both at 39 percent.

"The more things change, the more they stay the same," noted Michael Minard, CEO and owner of Delta Media Group, explaining that other independent surveys of real estate broker-owners over the years also show that recruiting and retention topped their business challenges list. "Brokerages recruit and retain agents to survive — and thrive," he added.

The Delta survey also asked leaders to share their brokerage's biggest challenge today. "The responses focused on three themes: brokerage profitability, training agents who have not experienced a market shift, and recruiting and retaining agents," Minard said.

The survey also found:

Real estate brokerage leaders gave themselves a "C" grade (74%) when asked to assess their training of new sales associates during the pandemic (2020 and 2021).
Sixty percent of brokerage leaders said they would increase their coaching and training of newer agents in 2023.
When leaders were asked to identify the single "best thing" their brokerage did in 2022, the most common responses focused on two things: activities related to cutting costs and consolidation, and actions related to agent recruiting and retention.
When asked about their biggest challenge today, leadership responses centered on brokerage profitability, training agents who have not experienced a market shift, and recruiting and retaining agents.
The Delta survey also asked brokerage leaders to share their views about marketing and technology trends in 2023. For example, the survey discovered 63% of real estate executives said "all-in-one marketing platforms" are valuable or highly valuable to their brokerage.

According to the study, 86% of brokerage leaders believer that real estate tech providers delivering ongoing innovation to keep brokerage technology "cutting-edge" is important or highly important for these highly productive real estate businesses.

Finally, when real estate leaders were asked about their biggest "rant" or "complaint" about tech providers, the study uncovered four common criticisms: lack of continuous innovation, poor integration services and support, over-promising, and not delivering results.